How it Began
by rUPerTgrINtroCkSMysoCkS
Summary: The year is 1971 and four troublesome new students have just joined Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Follow their journey as they discover secrets about the castle... and each other. SPOILERS
1. The Start of a Beautiful Friendship

**DISCLAIMER - Unfotunately I don't own any of these characters, places, objects etc. Except the ones you don't recognise from the books, those I do own, YAY! I also think if you think I'm making profit from this you are very stupid.**

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The train was gleaming through the steam as the Black family stepped through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Regulus was grasping the material of his mother's sleeve, dragging her robes further and further down until he was eventually stopped with a quick "Regulus," emitting from his father's lips. The eldest son had already ran along the platform, gazing in awe at the scarlet locomotive that was going to whisk him away from his family for the majority of the year. Of course he would still have to put up with two of his cousins, but at least he would no longer have to awake to his mother's ravings about whatever new law had been passed allowing Muggles slightly better treatment within wizarding communities.

"Sirius," hissed his mother, her voice travelling sharply across the hastily filling platform. "Your cousins are here, and it would be polite of you to greet them."

Sirius sighed slightly to himself, but turned around and slouched lazily to the spot where his mother, father and brother had now been joined by another man, woman and three girls, all older then himself.

"Hello," mumbled Sirius, hardly loud enough for them to hear. He was replied to with a similar enthusiasm, it was clear that there was some mutual dislike being shared between the group. It wasn't that Sirius hated his family, he just disagreed with some of the values that had been taught to him throughout his life. However, he rarely voiced his opinions and when he did, he was answered with a stern look from his father and occasionally a slap across his face, so he had decided to keep himself to himself and his ideals inside his head. For this reason, he didn't often speak to his cousins, they had little in common.

The eldest, Bellatrix, had left Hogwarts now, but had still come to Kings Cross Station, to see off her two younger sisters and eldest cousin, and also her boyfriend of two years, Redolphus Lestrange. She was very beautiful, with long, shimmering black hair, and dark eyes which she shared with her sister Andromeda. Andromeda was the middle sister and, Sirius thought, also had doubts about the cruel treatment of Muggles and Muggle-borns alike that the Black family was so fond of. She looked very much like Bellatrix, the only difference being she had lighter hair, and a warmer look upon her face. The youngest sister however could have easily been mistaken for not being a Black at all. She had fair hair, and blue eyes, with a snobbish, self-satisfied smile which she had apparently been born with. The name Narcissa suited her very well.

The Blacks quickly launched into a discussion about Gringotts goblins and how they had "stolen control of the highest establishment in the wizarding community," leaving the children or "young adults" to their own devices. They all wandered off in a different direction, except Regulus who refused to step more than a foot away from the protection of his parents, who seemed to emit an aura warning people not to get too close.

Sirius soon lost track of where the various members of his extended family were, and starting paying attention to the people surrounding him. He had never seen so many young witches and wizards together in one place, it seemed as though the entire population of Britain under the age of eighteen was stood right in front of him, although, of course, they weren't. He stared, smiling slightly, as he watched a witch around a year older than him being chased by a group of students dressed as dementors, or at least, pulling black cloaks around themselves and over their heads. The girl, Sirius noticed, was very pretty, with short, chestnut coloured hair and shallow dimples in her cheeks.

As he was standing there, engrossed in the actions of his fellow students, he overheard a conversation between a raven haired boy and his father. They were discussing the Quidditch league, and the disastrous transfer that the Tutshill Tornados had just made; 145,000 galleons for a Slovenian Chaser who was allergic to leather, and therefore couldn't hold the Quaffle. Amazingly, they weren't at the bottom of the league, the Chudley Cannons always seemed to hold that honour. the conversation between father and son ended quite abruptly when a woman, apparently the boy's mother, burst into tears, clearly distraught at the thought of her son leaving her to go to Hogwarts. She gave the boy a kiss and hugged him for what seemed like hours, until the boy finally maneuvered his way out, his cheeks pink with embarrassment. He glanced around, evidently checking if anyone had seen what had happened. Sirius gave him a huge, cheesy grin as their eyes met, and the boy grimaced.

He was quite thin, and taller than Sirius, but not very much. His hair was black and incredibly messy. It stuck up at all angles, but was clean and well kept, the boy obviously took some store by his appearance. He had hazel eyes, which were quite large, but not so much as to make his face disproportionate and wore well-made, expensive looking clothes and a pair of round glasses, slightly lopsided on his face. He had a certain air about him, making it clear that he had been brought up well, and taught certain values that Sirius had missed out on.

Sirius considered all this in mere seconds, and decided he liked the unnamed boy. He modified his grin into a friendly smile, and walked forwards to introduce himself.

"Hi," said Sirius at once.

"Hiya," replied the boy. "I'm James, you?"

"Sirius." The boys grinned at each other, the kind of grin you'd expect two people to make if they had been friends for years. "I saw your mum there, hugging you," Sirius laughed as James groaned.

"She's overcome with emotion and I have no idea why. It's not as though I've never been away from home before, I stay with my cousins a few times a year." James said all this very quickly and Sirius just stared. "They live in Spain," James added, as though he hadn't already given Sirius enough useless information.

"Oh," said Sirius, trying to sound a little interested, but failing miserably. "So..." Sirius started trying to change the subject but not knowing what to change it to. Eventually he decided to ask James what Quidditch team he supported. James answered quickly, saying that he supported the Appleby Arrows, and Sirius than stated that he did too. They had started a small conversation about the last match against Puddlemere United, which was stopped quite rudely by the voice of Walburga Black screaming the name of her son.

"Ah, my charming mother appears to want me, so I guess I'll see you on the train." Sirius turned round and walked away, back towards the family he didn't really belong to. Everyone was there again, gathered round to say their final farewells.

"Sirius, I don't want you talking to that boy," said his mother the moment Sirius was within earshot.

"Why?" asked Sirius, although he thought he already knew the answer. "Who is he?"

"I really don't know who the boy is, but I do know who the two adults he is with are. I went to school with the Potters and I am not having you mixing with blood traitors, Sirius, and I am trusting your cousin, Narcissa, to inform me if you do. You can sit with some good, respectable pure-bloods on the train, and once at Hogwarts you will be sorted into the Noble house of Salazar Slytherin, and you can speak to whomever you choose within the walls of the common room."

"Yes, mother." Sirius agreed rather reluctantly, but he had learned long ago that arguing with his mother would get him nowhere.

Without warning, a screeching sound escaped from the scarlet steam engine, and Sirius knew at once that this signified the time when the hundreds of students were required to board the train. He quickly glanced at his watch, just to be sure, and it was five minutes to eleven, the time when the train left, regardless of who was on board. He gave his brother a quick, reluctant hug and than did the same with his mother. He leaned him towards his father, but then, to Sirius's relief, was stopped from hugging the forty-four year old man. Instead, they shook hands honourably, and Sirius said one last "good bye."

He walked towards the train without a glance backwards, and found himself boarding with his cousin Andromeda. She muttered something inaudible and walked off to the left. Sirius had no idea where to go and so walked in the opposite direction from his cousin. He'd been walking for around a minute when he spotted a familiar face, the boy off the platform!

Sirius walked towards the compartment he had just entered and glanced in to see that James Potter was the only inhabitant. He knocked lightly upon the door and walked in. James looked up and smiled, obviously also relieved to see a relatively familiar face.

"My mother forbade me from sitting with you," smiled Sirius, "so I think I will."

James also smiled as the boy sat down across the compartment from him. They hadn't even had a chance to speak to each other when there was another knock on the door of the compartment. Sirius opened it, and found that there were two people stood there. One was a small, skinny boy wearing clothes that hadn't been washed for at least two months. He had a slight look of neglect about him. His hair was greasy and black, falling to just above his neck. His nose was hooked, and all over he wasn't a very attractive looking boy. The girl, however, was extremely good-looking and very distinctive. She had long, auburn hair which glistened in the light of the train. Her eyes were green, and the shape of almonds. She had smiled when Sirius had slid the door open, and her teeth were white, yet not blindingly so. They were both about the same age as Sirius and James, and were clearly good friends.

"Please can we sit here?" the girl asked, her voice soft and pleasant.

"Of course you can," said James, without even looking at Sirius to see if he agreed.

"Thank you," the girl said, sitting down next to the window, her friend opposite her. "I'm Lily Evans," she said, holding a hand out for her new acquaintances to shake. James grasped it at once, telling her his name, along with the fact that he was a new student this year. "So are we," Lily stated, clearly happy to have met some more people who were starting along with her.

Sirius thought that he would be glad too, to get rid of that greasy-haired boy she had entered with.

"Severus Snape," the boy said, James had clearly just asked him his name.

"Hello, Severus Snape, Lily Evans," Sirius said, having realised that he hadn't greeted them properly. "My name is Sirius Black."

"Do you two know each other?" asked Lily.

"Not exactly," Sirius replied. "We just met on the platform. You know each other though?"

"Yes, we come from the same town," yet again it was Lily who spoke, the Snape boy seemed quiet, shy.

After a few minutes had passed, all four of them had sat down, and the train was already out of the centre of London.

James and Sirius had resumed their previous conversation on Quidditch and the other two were talking about a girl named Petunia, obviously somebody from their home town.

Eventually, the two new friends exhausted their conversation and sat in silence for a while, listening to the conversation of the other two inhabitants of their compartment. It had now tuned to Hogwarts houses.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Snape.

"Slytherin?" James had said this almost instantaneously, not realising that the girl and boy now knew that he and Sirius had rudely been listening in to their conversation. "Who wants to be in Slytherin?" he continued. "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

This question was addressed at Sirius who frowned slightly and informed James that his whole family had been in Slytherin.

"Blimey," said James. "and I thought you seemed alright!"

Sirius grinned at this statement. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword, he had known this answer since before he could remember. "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad."

At this, Snape made a little, disparaging noise which caused both Sirius and James to turn and glare at him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," Snape lied, with a smirk on his face. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where are you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius interjected, a slight, mocking grin forming on his face as James roared with laughter.

Lily then sat up, and looked between the two boys with great dislike, they were mocking her only friend.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oooooooooo..." James and Sirius were imitating Lily's voice incredibly well, considering the fact that they were boys.

James tried to trip up Snape as he walked past them saying "See ya, Snivellus," as he did. The door was slammed shut.

James and Sirius laughed as they exited, and found it hard to stop. They did though eventually, when another knock was heard on the door. This time it was pushed open, however, and neither James or Sirius had to get out of their seat to welcome the new guest. His hair was light-ish brown, and he was wearing his school robes already. He had a scar on his neck, Sirius made a quick mental note not to ask him about it, but apart from this he seemed well-treated. He smiled at the boys in the compartment, and they smiled back.

"Wha-" started Sirius but the boy answered "It's Remus," as though he knew what question was coming.

"Ah. I'm Sirius and this is James."

Remus smiled again at what he hoped would be his two new friends.

"Well have a seat," said James, and Remus sat down, taking the seat next to Sirius.

"You new?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Uh-huh."

"Cool."

"Do you follow Quidditch?" James asked this question. Sirius had learned in the hour that he had known him that James was a keen Quidditch player, and also followed the league intently.

"Not really," said Rems, and James looked disappointed. " My mum's a Muggle you see," Remus continued, as though trying to make up an excuse.

"Really?" Sirius asked him.

"Yes, you don't have a problem with that do you?"

"No, no, of course not, my mother would though. She hates everything to do with Muggles, always makes us use Floo-Powder to get to Diagon Alley, so we don't have to walk along with them. She was horrified at Kings Cross back then, a Muggle came up to us and asked us if we'd seen a football anywhere, apparently he'd lost one. Anyways, I thought she was gonna curse him there and then, but father hurried her along. Do you know what a football is anyway, 'cause I've got no idea?"

"Oh, I do." Remus then explained to the bewildered James and Sirius all about the game, the ball and the league. Obviously his mum was a big fan of Bolton Wanderers; that team kept cropping up. Sirius looked amazed at the fact that there was only one ball, and James was horrified of the idea that there was no flight what-so-ever in the game, except occasionally when a player kicks the ball at just the right angle and it momentarily soars through the air.

The boys sat there talking and laughing, as the train weaved its way through the British countryside, the moors of Yorkshire, the Lakes of Cumbria, the peaks of Derbyshire, always heading further and further north, towards the highlands of Scotland, and Hogsmede Station, where they would alight the train and travel by boat the remainder of the journey to their new school and home. The boys talked about everything from bananas to xylophones, whilst eating the mountain of food they had purchased from a cheery looking, slightly overweight witch who had knocked on the door of the compartment a few minutes after Remus had joined the party.

As the boys saw mountains from the windows of the train, Sirius and James decided it was time to change into their shiny, new robes for Hogwarts couldn't be that far away now. They sat there, in silent anticipation, for the remaining few minutes of the journey, none of them really wishing to speak in case their excitement would show in their voices. Eventually, they reached the small train station on the outskirts of the village of Hogsmede and got off the train, where they were greeted by a man at least twice the size of any man Sirius had ever seen, who took them to a lake where they were told to get in a boat. The three friends entered a boat at the end of the fleet, and were joined by a boy none of them had ever seen before. He was very tall, with dirty blond hair and a vacant expression on his face. Together, the entire first year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry slowly rowed across the great lake, as one group. The young children glanced up as they saw the castle for the first time, the building seemed to give off magic, it was the most spectacular thing Sirius had ever seen. It gave them even more of a purpose to row, and they reached the banks on the other side very quickly. They reached the castle, where the giant man called Hagrid banged against the door, and a stern looking women opened it, leading the students into the entrance hall of the castle and then through into a small, long room where they were told to wait for the sorting ceremony...

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**A/N - This is my first fanfic. I know some things differ from the books a little (the way that James, Sirius, Lily and Snape met) but I'd already half written mine when I checked the book, and decided not to change it. Please R&R.**


	2. GRYFFINDOR!

**DISCLAIMER - I'm not J. K. Rowling. Wish I was but no, sorry. She owns everything.**

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A few minutes passed, but eventually the door to the great hall was opened and the students stumbled in, in single file. The room was huge, and the night sky was reflected on the ceiling. Sirius stared in astonishment as he saw clouds slowly gliding across the heavens. On the floor of the hall, there were four tables with students sat at them, one for each house. Sirius noted where the Slytherin one was, after all that was where he would be going. There was also an elevated platform, where the professors were sat, so as to look over the members of the school.

The witch that had allowed them into the castle had placed a stool at the front of the room, and on top of it, a tattered, torn old hat, the type which Muggle children wear on Hallowe'en. To the shock of some of the new students - presumably Muggle-borns - one of the tears in the hat opened, like a mouth, and a song was heard around the hall. Sirius wasn't listening though. He was too busy gazing at his new surroundings, his new home. He could see his cousins. Narcissa was sat with a grin on her face, talking to a boy who looked slightly younger than her, he was wearing a prefect's badge and therefore must have been in at least fifth year. His hair was a similar colour to Narcissa's, only it was a little lighter. They could have been siblings, but obviously weren't. Sirius's other cousin, Andromeda, was staring dreamily at a boy sat on the Hufflepuff table, who apparently hadn't seen her. He had a jolly face, and his mouth was slightly ajar as he stared intently at the sorting-hat, as if it was singing directly to him.

Sirius hadn't caught much of the song, it was something about the four houses and their qualities. Gryffindor - courage. Slytherin - cunning. Ravenclaw - brains. Hufflepuff - hardworking. It had finished before he knew it, and there was a short round of applause until the stern witch stood up again, and the hall was silent. She had a scroll of parchment, with the names of all the new students on.  
"Arkly, Robert," was the first name she read out. A boy stepped forward, looking petrified. He sat on the stool and after around half a minute had passed the hat spoke. "Ravenclaw!" The boy ran over to the table, where he was greeted by a great round of applause.  
"Black, Sirius." Sirius moved, knowing what was coming. He sat down slowly and placed the hat over his head. It slid to just below his ears and began to speak to Sirius. He realised that no-one else was able to hear the words that were being spoken to him, after all, he hadn't heard anything when Robert Arkly was in his position.

"Ah, another Black." The hat spoke calmly, with a man's voice. "I fear you do not belong with the rest of your clan. You are braver than most, and do not share the pure-blood values that the House of Slytherin prize. Therefore I shall have to place you in GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word echoed around the great hall, and was followed by gasps of shock and surprise. All the Black's were in Slytherin, it had been that way forever. But the hat had said Gryffindor, so, hesitantly Sirius walked over to the Gryffindor table, every eye watching him curiously. He sat down and glanced very quickly at the Slytherin table, where Narcissa looked horrified, as though she was a little girl who had just been told that the Tooth Fairy doesn't exist. Sirius dared not look for too long, and decided to stare at the goblet in front of him. There had been no clapping for Sirius, or at least, he hadn't heard it. The ceremony continued (Bones, Edgar, "Ravenclaw!" Charleson, Alice, "Gryffindor!" etc) until eventually it reached Remus.

He went forwards and sat on the stool, where he sat for a few minutes until eventually he joined Sirius in Gryffindor. He sat down next to his friend, and smiled happily. There were now six people in Gryffindor, four girls and two boys. The girl off the train was there, her friend had looked horrified when she had been sorted. She was talking to the other girls, apparently unaware of how annoyed Snape was. Another girl was sorted there, Mary MacDonald, and then the boy from the boats, his name was Christian Nettles, joined Hufflepuff. A short, mousy-looking boy called Peter Pettigrew was sorted into Gryffindor, and he looked very pleased with himself. he ran over, but stumbled over a Slytherin girl's leg and fell over, head first. This made almost all of the school laugh at his expense, but he just got up and carried on to the table, sitting next to Remus. The next person was James, who ran forwards excitedly, and sat down happily on the stool. The hat screamed, "Gryffindor!" almost instantly and he ran over just as happily as Peter had, but managing to avoid the leg of the girl. He sat next to Sirius and whispered, "told ya," which Sirius smiled at.

The ceremony went on, Sirius noted that Severus Snape was sorted into Slytherin with no hesitation from the hat, but eventually stopped when Duncan Zandy joined Christian Nettles at the Hufflepuff table. The Headmaster, Dumbledore, then stood up and said a small speech after which the plates laid on the tables burst into colour with hundreds of different dishes. Sirius shovelled piles of food on to his plate, and then ate with complete disregard to the table manners displayed by normal members of society. Some of the older girls were looking at him in disgust, but the younger females were staring at him for other reasons. He was, after all, extremely handsome. He smiled at the girls whenever he took a break from eating, and this put a lot of them off. His teeth were filled with all sorts of multi-coloured pieces of all varieties of food, and this wasn't quite as appealing as his gleaming grey eyes.

After the main course came dessert, which Sirius ate just as enthusiastically. His favourite seemed to be chocolate fudge cake; which James had seen him grab at least five pieces of. The feast seemed to go on for hours, and when it finally finished everyone was exhausted. They were led upstairs by a prefect called Marlene and taken into the Gryffindor common room, which was concealed behind the painting of a fat witch in a pink dress. She had asked for the password, "Beedle," before swinging forward to reveal the room beyond. It was circular, clearly in one of the towers, and decorated in red and gold, the colours of Gryffindor, not that anyone was paying it much attention. The boys climbed the stairs to the left of the room and found their dormitory, where they collapsed immediately and fell into a deep sleep.

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**A/N - I don't really like this chapter very much, but I did my best. With any luck the next chapter should be MUCH better. I have some very interesting ideas for their first day (you can't see me but I'm doing an evil smile). Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you really gave my confidence a boost. Please keep on R&Ring...**


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